An innovative partnership between UCSD Medical Center and local community clinics will soon be expanding. The goal of the project is to reduce the number of uninsured people who use emergency rooms for primary care. KPBS reporter Kenny Goldberg has more.
Last year, UCSD launched a pilot project with a network of community clinics called San Diego Family Care. Uninsured patients who were treated at the emergency room were given a follow-up appointment at a clinic prior to discharge.
Roberta Feinberg is CEO of San Diego Family Care. She says these patients established a relationship with the clinics.
Feinberg : They now have a primary care doctor. And they can come here on a sliding fee scale, whereas they usually can't pay in the emergency room, and the emergency room has to treat them, and eat the cost.
UCSD has received a grant to expand the project to include more local clinics. The next phase will also allow the hospital to share medical records with clinics.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
